Surprising XBLA Indie Game - LaserCat

[Zandengoff]

So I had recently bought Limbo and was enjoying it. I had 400 points left on my 2000 and kept looking at XBLA but all I could find was TMNT. As I did not have someone else to play with, that was out of the question. I knew that I did not want to spend it on themes or crappy avatar clothes. It was games that I was after. I had prior downloaded some Indie trials and found them to be clunky and lackluster, but without anywhere else to turn I went to the newest, highest rated, and most downloaded sections and started downloading trials like a mad man.

To my surprise and glee, I found a game that made me happy that the indie store exists.

That game is LaserCat:

http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Produ ... 0258550843

Your objective is the jump, fly, and fall around a castle in order to get keys to unlock your friend Owl out of the Frog wizard's prison. The game consists of a castle sectioned off in rooms. Each room has a name usually descriptive of what is inside of it and sometimes a small theme (Ex. several rooms that work together to house a giant robot). This setup leads to opportunity for humor and wit. Several times I found myself chuckling or outright laughing at some of the references to room layouts or other video games.

Usually when I die a lot in a game, I find myself cursing at the controller and giving up in frustration, but while playing LaserCat, I never once had that feeling. Checkpoints abound and there is little penalty for dying. There is also no time or life limit. You would think this would cause tension to be broken, but i came to points where I could almost not look at the screen for fear of not making a jump for the 10th time.

I might point out that as you will die a lot, nothing in the game seemed impossible. The difficulty is at points on the lighter side, paring good to the mello background music and the retro chip noises.

This game as a whole reminded me of what a new age atari game would be built like. Simple, fun, and thoughtful. Although it was a little short, I quite enjoyed my time with LaserCat. Well worth the 80 points.

[drunkn ghost]

I will have to check that one out. I am a huge fan of the indie games. My current favorite is Miner Dig Deeper.

[Zandengoff]

I tried that one out but wanted to get something more than just collecting stuff. I have been on a kick lately where if I buy something, I finish it. Really leaves me no room for open ended games. Otherwise good game though.

[drunkn ghost]

I played LaserCat last night and it's pretty good. I don't know how I overlooked it before. I normally download every trial that looks even slightly interesting.

There actually is a ending to Miner, you just have to dig deeper. *badum-CHING* Seriously though there is a ending and its pretty awesome.

If you have at least two players Little Racers and Junkyard Wars are great too.

[Xelyx]

I'd recommend Cthulhu Saves the World, too. It's got a lot of humor and random things. It's not the hardest game I've played but some battles are fairly hard. I also really enjoy the battling/ranking system. It's also a decently long game. I'm around 10 hours or so in and don't seem to be reaching an end. It's a great game for $3.

[Zandengoff]

Might check out Cthulhu. About how many hours is it total?

As for other indie games on XBLA. I have recently played Shoot 1UP (great shooter with an interesting multi-ship hook $1) and TEMPURA of the DEAD (great shooter/platformer with nice hand crafted 8 bit graphics and a dual character hook $3). I have found both to be very satisfying and worthy to be put along side other games in the normal XBLA store. This after downloading and trying out trials for a half a day. Save yourself the trouble and just try these 3 straight away.

[Xelyx]

Might check out Cthulhu. About how many hours is it total?

As for other indie games on XBLA. I have recently played Shoot 1UP (great shooter with an interesting multi-ship hook $1) and TEMPURA of the DEAD (great shooter/platformer with nice hand crafted 8 bit graphics and a dual character hook $3). I have found both to be very satisfying and worthy to be put along side other games in the normal XBLA store. This after downloading and trying out trials for a half a day. Save yourself the trouble and just try these 3 straight away.

I think I'm at the final boss now, though I've thought that three times now. I'd estimate it to be between ten and fifteen hours, but I haven't actually timed it at all.

[Zandengoff]

Tried the demo for Cthulhu Saves the World. Reminded me a lot of the look of a Final Fantasy game, however it had humor more on par with some of the old Working Designs RPGs. I believe I will buy it soon, but have to finish some of the other games on the indie XBLA to free the time.